The first step to joining the Scheme is to provide the Scheme with public words, which can be made publicly available to relevant applicants of the organisations intent to join the Scheme; and consenting NGI being listed on the Scheme’s website as intending to join the Scheme. 

Note: these are not visible on the website but for the purposes of enquiries to the Scheme

a) Words for Applicants

As part of the on-boarding process, the Scheme encourages institutions to provide some words that may be shared with relevant applicants.

An example of some wording is outlined below for your information: 
(Name of Institution) recognises the importance of the National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse and is committed to complete all the necessary steps to join the Scheme. 

b) Consent to be listed on the Scheme’s website

The Scheme also requires your consent to list your institution’s name on their website as intending to join the Scheme. The list of institution’s can be found via our website at Institutions intending to participate in the National Redress Scheme.

Could you please therefore return your words for applicants and consent to be listed on the Scheme’s website via return email by no later than two weeks from when you received this link.

If you have any questions, or require support please contact your Relationship Manager or email RedressInstitutions@dss.gov.au

The Scheme offers specific training designed for Institutions like yours. The training is a combination of online learning you can complete at any time of day and 2x short face to screen sessions where you can deepen your understanding of the Scheme and your role. You will receive an email on how to register for this training after your first meeting with your Relationship Manger.

The Redress Education Portal provides an easy way to enrol in and manage your National Redress Scheme training. You will receive email reminders of your upcoming training sessions and be able to access resources from one platform. Alongside the instructor-led training, you will have access to eLearning modules and National Redress Scheme resources and information relevant to your role in the Scheme.

To get started, you will need to register(Opens in a new tab/window) for the Education portal. We have attached a guide on how to register as a user. Once your registration is approved you will be able to access the portal. This approval will be automatic for most users who register with an organisational email address. 

You may have more than one member attend the training. Each person completing training will need to register. Training must be completed for an Institution to be declared as participating.

Mandatory, Live learning

1. Non-government institutions operations A&B(Opens in a new tab/window)

• To be completed by the RFI Contact that you nominate for your institution (other staff may also attend this training)

2. DPR Immersion(Opens in a new tab/window)

• To be completed by the DPR Contact that you nominate for your institution, as well as the DPR Representative of your institution (other staff may also attend this training)

* If you have a change in staff, the person moving into the roles of RFI Contact, DPR Contact and DPR Representative will need to complete the training to fulfil their responsibilities.

Optional, eLearning modules

• Introduction to the National Redress Scheme(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Introduction to National Redress Scheme applications and entitlement(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Introduction to the National Redress Scheme assessment framework(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Joining the National Redress Scheme as a non-government institution(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Introduction to Direct personal response(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Direct personal response legal requirements(Opens in a new tab/window)
• Introduction to PRODA(Opens in a new tab/window)

Thank you for your engagement with the Scheme. 

If you have any questions regarding the Redress Education Portal, please contact Redress.Education.Portal@dss.gov.au or talk to your Relationship Manager. 

Under the National Redress Scheme (NRS), redress is only possible when at least one institution participating in the Scheme is considered responsible for child sexual abuse. This means it was responsible for bringing the child into contact with the person who abused them. One or more institutions can be responsible.

The structure used by non-government institutions (NGI) to join the NRS, the definition of an institution used in the National Redress Act and the specific wording used in the Declaration by the Minister are related to each other and central to most aspects of participation in the NRS.

This information sheet presents examples and operational consequences of different participating structures for participating NGIs under the NRS, including:

• Participating groups 
• Incorporated lone institutions
• Unincorporated lone institutions.
• Differences between sites and institutions under the Act.
• Using a class description to capture a range of activities conducted and/or all institutions in a participating group.
• Using a carve out by identifying a specific period of responsibility.

Steps 4 to 7 can be done at the same time.

Please provide a copy of governing documents such as the current constitution and any by-laws.

DSS have developed an excel spreadsheet for population by onboarding institutions.

Each field in the spreadsheet includes help text as to what information is to be populated – not all fields are mandatory.

1. It is important that institutions joining the Scheme include in the spreadsheet their key contact information for Request for Information, Direct Personal Response and Invoicing for each entity listed as well as ABN number.

2. All on-boarding institutions are required to populate the excel spreadsheet in preparation to join the Scheme. You may be able to use existing sources of information previously provided for your own publicly available websites.

3. The excel spreadsheet must be provided to DSS 4 weeks before the expected commencement date to allow for quality and data integrity checks to be completed.

For example: An institution’s proposed commencement date is 1 December 2018, the completed spreadsheet is provided to DSS on 1 November 2018.

4. We understand that for some institutions it may not be possible to provide a comprehensive list of all their operations in every location. However, where detail of lower-level institutions is known, these must be provided to allow DSS to prepare Ministerial Declaration disallowable instruments and to ensure release documentation of associates within groups is reflected as accurately as possible.

5. Some information on the institutional list will be publicly available on the Scheme’s website, these fields are:

Institution name

• Also known as name (AKA) – i.e. common or locally known names, abbreviated terms etc.
• Primary Description
• Functional Description
• Religious Identifier (if applicable)
• Physical location
• Address ii. Suburb iii. State iv. Postcode
• Operational start and end dates
• Group name (if part of a participating group)
• Webnotes (a short description of the institution, this field has a 1,000-character limit.)

6. Other information such as Invoicing and Request for Information contact information and notes remain confidential and will be used for administrative purposes only.

DPR contact information may be provided to applicants to arrange their Direct Personal Response where they accept that component of redress.

7. Without institutional data, the Scheme’s service delivery component is unable to determine whether an institution is included as participating in the Scheme. This can have flow on effects on billing, eligibility of applicants, timeliness of processing applications, providing complete quarterly reporting, and release documentation for applicants.

8. In the institutional database excel spreadsheet, Column AV (Outcome letter - release institution legal referral name) allows an institution to specify the ‘legal referral name’ of an institution.

This field is intended to capture the legal name of an institution for release purposes, where it might differ from the normal institution name. Information from this field will be extracted from the database and used to populate relevant sections of a person’s letter of offer and acceptance document.

Provide the following completed documents to the Scheme.  

• Completed Estimated Redress Liability Tool and Result
• Last 2 consecutive years of financial statements.

PRODA stands for Provide Digital Access and is the main portal used to access and transfer information for your participation in the Scheme. I have attached a document that will walk you through how to register yourself and your Institution for PRODA.

The National Redress Scheme’s Institution Portal (the Portal) is the system used to ensure secure transfer of protected information between the National Redress Scheme, participating institutions, and their representatives. To ensure that only authorised people have access to information in the Portal, the government’s online authentication system (called PRODA) authenticates both the institution and the individuals accessing the Portal. Institutions are responsible for setting up and ensuring their Redress Contacts maintain access to the Institution Portal.

Before your institution can be declared as participating in the Scheme, PRODA registration for your organisation must be completed. 

• A person from your organisation who is an associate or an authorised contact on the Australian Business Register (ABR) will need an individual PRODA account to register and manage your organisation’s PRODA account. They also have the responsibility for linking the account to the National Redress Scheme and authorising individual members’ access to the Institution Portal on behalf of the institution.
• Each individual in your organisation who requires access to the National Redress Scheme Institution Portal will also need an individual PRODA account. This will include your:
• Request for Information (RFI) contact. 
• Direct Personal Response (DPR) contact 

To access the material below you must register(Opens in a new tab/window) for the Redress Education Portal. 

The Introduction to PRODA(Opens in a new tab/window) eLearning course provides an overview of PRODA. It also explains the types of PRODA accounts required to set up access to the Institution Portal and covers how institutions use PRODA to manage access to the Institution Portal for their staff. This eLearning also covers the most frequent issues that prevent access to the Institution Portal and how to resolve them.  

The National Redress Scheme Institution Portal checklist(Opens in a new tab/window) assists institutions to manage their PRODA set up and access the relevant links on the PRODA homepage for each set up step.  

Step by step written instructions on how to register a PRODA account can also be found on PRODA (Provider Digital Access) - Services Australia(Opens in a new tab/window)

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlines the responsibilities of your Institution and the Department of Social Services while your Institution participates in the Scheme.

To review and sign the MoU, please download here.  

Put in an explanation on the Agreement to participating - The participation agreement is a technical agreement that satisfies specific requirements under the Act relating to participation in the Scheme (described below) and is to be signed by institutions (or their agents, where applicable) as evidence of agreement to participate.

Please click and sign the Agreement to Participate form here. 

All Institutions must complete Direct Personal Response (DPR) training available through the Redress Education Portal(Opens in a new tab/window) (the Education Portal), including the DPR Immersion Training sessions.

The Scheme is also available to offer you additional support to explore specific requirements for your institution. 

What is Direct Personal Response?

A key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was for survivors to have access to a DPR in recognition of their need for healing and justice. Under the Scheme, a DPR is an opportunity for a survivor to engage, after careful preparation, with a representative from the institution responsible for their abuse. A DPR provides for a survivor to share their experience and its impacts on them at the time, and now. The institution’s role is to listen, hear and acknowledge the survivor’s experiences and demonstrate accountability through the provision of genuine apology and assurances of the efforts being made by the institution to prevent abuse occurring in the future.

Key DPR Documents

1. DPR Framework

The National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Direct Personal Response Framework 2018 (DPR Framework) is the legislative instrument for the DPR component of the Scheme. Under section 55 of the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Act 2018, participating institutions must comply with this instrument when engaging with survivors in a DPR under the Scheme. The DPR Framework articulates the core elements of what a DPR must contain and allows for flexibility on the format for how a DPR may be undertaken.

2. DPR Guidance Handbook

Please note, this document is for an institution’s internal use only and is not for external sharing or publication.

The Direct Personal Response Guidance Handbook (DPR Guidance Handbook) is a best-practice guide for participating institutions to establish and implement safe and effective DPR processes. It provides policy guidance on implementing DPR’s in alignment with best-practice approaches to restorative practice and trauma-informed care and outlines practical advice to operationalise the DPR Framework, including guidance templates. The DPR Guidance Handbook is a ‘living document’ and we will continue to revise and add further guidance materials over the life of the Scheme as required.

It is important for all staff in your organisation who have a role in DPR, to familiarise themselves with the attached DPR Institution Overview and Obligations information sheet, the DPR Framework and DPR Guidance Handbook, noting that:

• DPR elements and requirements under the Scheme may be different to any current ‘apology processes’ or programs your institution has used or is using. As such, your institution should consider where existing processes may be strengthened to support survivors to achieve safe, meaningful and enduring outcomes from their engagement in a DPR.
• All participating institutions should carefully consider their own specific survivor and institutional context and their obligations as set out in the DPR Framework. 
• The ‘standard model’ set out in the DPR Guidance Handbook encourages the engagement of skilled independent facilitators to safeguard the process, ensuring survivor interests are at the centre of the DPR and that the process is safe for all participants.
  • The Australian Association for Restorative Justice (AARJ) hosts a list of Restorative Engagement Facilitator Services panel members who wish to be listed on their website. The Restorative Engagement Facilitator Services Panel was established by the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
  • The list of facilitators is available via the AARJ website here(Opens in a new tab/window).
• Survivors requesting a DPR have had their testimony accepted by the Scheme. This is not to be disputed or questioned in a DPR.
• Reparation is separate to the DPR process and is not a feature of the DPR.